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This book is dedicated to my parents, Mary and Fred C. Trump, and my brothers and sisters—Maryanne, Robert, Elizabeth, and Fred.
Also, my wonderful wife, Melania, and my incredibly supportive children, Don Jr., Ivanka, Eric, Tiffany, and Barron.
And importantly, to the people who are ready to Make America Great Again!
CONTENTS
Preface: You Gotta Believe
1. Winning Again
2. Our “Unbiased” Political Media
3. Immigration: Good Walls Make Good Neighbors
4. Foreign Policy: Fighting for Peace
5. Education: A Failing Grade
6. The Energy Debate: A Lot of Hot Air
7. Health Care Is Making Us All Sick
8. It’s Still the Economy, Stupid
9. Nice Guys Can Finish First
10. Lucky to Be an American
11. The Right to Bear Arms
12. Our Infrastructure Is Crumbling
13. Values
14. A New Game in Town
15. Teaching the Media Dollars and Sense
16. A Tax Code That Works
17. Making America Great Again
Photographs
Acknowledgments
My Personal Financials
About the Author
PREFACE
YOU GOTTA BELIEVE
wondering why the picture we used on the cover of this book is so angry and so mean
looking. I had some beautiful pictures taken in which I had a big smile on my face. I looked happy, I
looked content, I looked like a very nice person, which in theory I am. My family loved those pictures
and wanted me to use one of them. The photographer did a great job. But I decided it wasn’t
appropriate. In this book we’re talking about Crippled America—that’s a tough title. Unfortunately,
there’s very little that’s nice about it. Hence, the picture on the cover.
So I wanted a picture where I wasn’t happy, a picture that reflected the anger and unhappiness that
I feel, rather than joy. There’s nothing to be joyful about. Because we are not in a joyous situation right
now. We’re in a situation where we have to go back to work to make America great again. All of us.
That’s why I’ve written this book. People say that I have self-confidence. Who knows? When I began
speaking out, I was a realist. I knew the relentless and incompetent naysayers of the status quo would
anxiously line up against me, and they have:
The politicians who talk a great game in campaigns—and play like total losers when they try to
actually govern because they can’t govern; they don’t know how to govern.
The lobbyists and special interests with their hands in our pockets on behalf of their clients or
others.
The members of the media who are so far lost when it comes to being fair that they have no concept
of the difference between “fact” and “opinion.”
The illegal immigrants who have taken jobs that should go to people here legally, while over 20
percent of Americans are currently unemployed or underemployed. Believe me, they’re all over the
place. I see them. I talk to them. I hug them. I hold them. They are all over the place.
Congress, which has been deadlocked for years and virtually unable to deal with any of our most
pressing domestic problems, or even the most basic ones, such as passing a budget. Think of it: a little
thing like passing the budget. They don’t even have a clue.
Meanwhile, the bedrock of this country—the middle class—and those 45 million Americans stuck
in poverty have seen their incomes decline over the past 20 years. Understandably, their
disenchantment and frustration at what’s happening grows every day, and it gets worse and worse and
worse.
And even our lawyers and judges, the reflective “wise men,” have been stepping all over the US
Constitution, the bulwark of our democracy. They have recklessly appointed themselves to be policy
makers, because our actual elected officials are paralyzed by partisanship. They can’t move; they can’t
act. They are totally impotent.
As for the presidency and the executive branch, the incompetence is beyond belief.
As I write this, Russian president Vladimir Putin is totally outmaneuvering our president by putting
together a coalition in Syria that will make Putin the only effective leader in the world. He and his
allies—most notably Iran—have positioned themselves exactly where President Obama and our
SOME READERS MAY BE
military have failed miserably for years. They are total failures. They are not leaders. We are no longer
a leader. Putin has become the leader, and it’s an embarrassment to our country.
We’ve wasted literally trillions of dollars in the Middle East, with virtually nothing to show for it
except for alienating our best ally, Israel. To make matters worse, we’ve negotiated a worthless and
costly nuclear treaty with Iran (now Russia’s best friend) on the supposition that it will lead to greater
harmony and world peace, which it won’t. It will lead to just the opposite.
The idea of American Greatness, of our country as the leader of the free and unfree world, has
vanished.
Despite all of these challenges—and actually because of the challenges—I decided to do something
about it. I couldn’t stand to see what was happening to our great country. This mess calls for
leadership in the worst way. It needs someone with common sense and business acumen, someone
who can truly lead America back to what has made us great in the past.
We need someone with a proven track record in business who understands greatness, someone
who can rally us to the standard of excellence we once epitomized and explain what needs to be done.
When I started speaking out, I had no idea what the reaction would be. I know I’m a great builder,
I’ve built buildings all over the world. I’ve had tremendous success. But I hadn’t fully exposed my
political thoughts and ideas to restore America’s greatness.
I also knew that the Trump brand is one of the world’s great icons of quality and excellence.
Everybody talks about it. Everybody knows about it. It’s very very special. I’m very proud of it. Our
buildings and resorts now stand very proudly (and beautifully) all over the United States and in many
other countries.
I started with the issue of illegal immigration, and proposed building a major wall that would be very
high and completely impervious to the flood of immigrants who we don’t want or need here illegally.
We love people coming in, but not when it’s done illegally.
Suddenly, Americans started to wake up to what was going on with regard to illegal immigration.
Despite the large number of candidates who were running for the Republican nomination, what I was
saying started to really hit home with people, and everybody picked it up and they picked it up gladly.
I started drawing crowds so large that we had to move our rallies into football stadiums and
convention centers. The first national debate drew 24 million viewers, which set a record for cable
television. Despite some of the ridiculous, antagonistic questions—or maybe because of them—I
fought back as I always do and began to explain my vision. As a result, most people thought I won the
debate.
People were applauding. All of a sudden, people who had never cared about elections or never voted
were rushing to our rallies. The rallies became massive. The crowds were unbelievable. The
enthusiasm was based on pure love and love of what we were doing.
The media, the politicians, and the so-called leaders of our country reacted in horror. But I
persevered and went directly to the people, because I don’t need anyone’s financial support, nor do I
need anyone’s approval of what I say or do. I just had to do the right thing. I had to do it. I had no
choice. I see what’s happening to our country; it’s going to hell. I had to do it.
I have now begun to fill in some of the details of my vision. I’ve released a tax plan that gives the
middle class and those with lower incomes a chance to keep more of what they earn, while
restructuring how the richest Americans will be paying taxes.
I’ve committed to a truly more powerful military, one prepared and equipped to stand up to any and
all of our foes. When we draw a line in the sand, it needs to mean something to all—especially our
enemies.
I’ve introduced a whole new approach to job creation by encouraging companies to bring more of
their jobs and manufacturing back to America (home where it belongs), along with the trillions of
dollars currently being held in foreign banks overseas. We’re bringing that money back. It’s a massive
amount of money. And guess what? Lots of good things are going to happen. They’re going to spend
that money on roads, on bridges, on companies, on jobs. It’s going to be amazing.
I’ve explained why Obamacare is a costly, ludicrous solution to our health care woes and one which
must be repealed and replaced with a much better option. We need to fix the problem by creating
competition in the private sector between insurance companies, and by allowing patients to choose the
family doctors they want. This will be a much better plan, a much less costly plan—better doctors,
better service. It will be something really special. And think of it: the United States will save a fortune
as a country. People will be better served. A combination that cannot be beat.
Competition is a magic word in education as well. Parents should have the right to choose the
schools where their kids can get the best education. The weaker schools will be closed, and ineffective
teachers will be fired. One-size-fits-all education—Common Core—is bad. It’s not going to happen.
We don’t want our children to be educated from Washington. We want local eduction. Education
should be locally based.
Domestically, we need to undertake a massive rebuilding of our infrastructure. Too many bridges
have become dangerous, our roads are decaying and full of potholes, while traffic jams are costing
millions in lost income for drivers who have jobs in congested cities. Public transit is overcrowded and
unreliable and our airports must be rebuilt. You go to countries like China and many others and you
look at their train systems and their public transport. It’s so much better. We’re like a third-world
country.
I could go on and on regarding many of the ideas I’ve written about in this book, and more that will
be forthcoming. But let me add that while my critics are pushing their policy agendas, the last thing we
need are more plans that evaporate after the elections.
What we need is leadership that can deal with our mess and begin to apply practical solutions to our
problems. My goal is not to design hundreds of pages of government regulation and red tape like
others propose. We need to outline commonsense policies and then knock some heads together if
necessary to make them work. The fact is we are over-regulated. People can’t move. They’re stymied.
Companies can’t be built. We’re over-regulated.
I know how to deal with complex issues and how to bring together all the various elements
necessary for success. I’ve done it for years and have built a great company and a massive net worth.
This book is designed to give the reader a better understanding of me and my ideas for our future.
I’m a really nice guy, believe me, I pride myself on being a nice guy but I’m also passionate and
determined to make our country great again.
It’s time we turn America around from despair and anger to joy and accomplishment. It can happen,
and it will happen.
Our best days still lie ahead. There is so much untapped greatness in our country. We’re rich in
natural resources, and we’re rich in human talent.
Enjoy this book—and together, let’s make America great again!
1
WINNING AGAIN
winning again.
Nobody likes a loser and nobody likes to be bullied. Yet, here we stand today, the greatest
superpower on Earth, and everyone is eating our lunch. That’s not winning.
We have a president who tries to get tough and draw a line in the sand, but when that line gets
crossed, there are no repercussions.
And when we try to negotiate with foreign countries? We don’t stand up. We don’t threaten to walk
away. And, more important, we don’t walk away. We make concession after concession. That’s not
winning.
If I ran my business that way, I’d fire myself.
Take one of the worst agreements in our history—the nuclear “treaty” with Iran—which John Kerry
negotiated and President Obama rammed through and around Congress. (Or, rather, he convinced his
party to support it and filibuster any debate or vote on it.) This is probably the most important treaty of
our time, and our very stupid leaders in Washington, DC, couldn’t even bring themselves to hold a
discussion and vote on it.
Ronald Reagan said, “Trust but verify”—but in this case we aren’t following either piece of advice.
How can we trust a man like the Ayatollah Khamenei? Just a month before we approved the treaty, he
reiterated that his country was pledged to destroy and eliminate Israel, our most important ally and
longtime partner in preserving some semblance of stability in the region. And as for verification, we
don’t even know what side-deals the International Atomic Energy Agency has struck with Iran. Or if
we do know, they haven’t been made public.
That’s not winning—that’s criminal negligence, in my view.
Then when every Senate Republican criticized this deal (and some of the Democrats did as well),
the president compared his critics to our adversaries.
In other words, he sells out his friends and allies, and then defends his treaty by comparing his
critics to our enemies.
That’s what we call successful diplomacy?
Now we’re going to open the gates to refugees from places like Syria, which is like extending a
personal invitation to ISIS members to come live here and try to destroy our country from within.
This is America today, the shining city on a hill, which other countries used to admire and try to be
like.
So what can be done about it? How do we start winning again?
To start with, we need a government that is committed to winning and has experience in winning.
This book is about how we do that.
AMERICA NEEDS TO START
In early September 2015, I spoke at a major rally in Washington, DC. I told them that we need a
military that will be so strong that we won’t have to use it. And then I asked, “Are you listening,
President Obama?” Almost everyone in the crowd cheered, but I understand why some of them were
skeptical. Americans are used to hearing the same old promises from the same tired politicians who
never produce any results, let alone any victories. I should know. For years I gave money—lots of
money—to candidates from both parties who made personal pleas for my support for their campaigns.
They promised to change things with new ideas and bring government back to its original, more
limited purpose of protecting our country and putting our people first.
Candidate after candidate made all kinds of pledges like this, and very little, if anything, was done.
How many of those problems have been solved? Nothing seemed to move forward in Washington.
Look at Congress, which has an understandably negative reputation among Americans.
And why not? They do nothing.
They can’t even pass an annual budget. They constantly bicker, which means that they just throw
all our problems and our huge debt on to our children and possibly our grandchildren.
This has to stop.
Finally, I realized that America doesn’t need more “all-talk, no-action” politicians running things. It
needs smart businesspeople who understand how to manage. We don’t need more political rhetoric—
we need more common sense. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”—but if it is broke, let’s stop talking about it
and fix it.
I know how to fix it.
A lot of people were encouraging me to speak out, and I realized that with my well-known success
story and record of building residential and office buildings and developing public spaces—all the while
accumulating personal wealth—I could inspire people to help create the most massive turnaround in
American history.
Of course, there were doubters. Between journalists who sell newspapers by creating controversy,
and established politicians eager to preserve the status quo that in turn preserves their jobs, there were
many “experts” predicting my demise. They’ve been reading the “polls.” They’ve been listening to all the
lobbyists and special interests saying “Trump is a threat to our well-being.” They’ve even been saying I
was a bully or that I was prejudiced or that I hated women or hated Hispanics. Some of them even said
—and this is the cardinal sin in politics—I was willing to take on even the richest people in America
with all their tax benefits.
I have proven everybody wrong.
EVERYBODY!
Suddenly, those same newspapers and “experts” were only talking about my ideas. And even as I’ve
had to respond to some of the toughest and dumbest questions from supposedly nonpartisan
journalists, people continue to listen to me and support my ideas—and guess what? Women are
flocking to my message because they’re just as tired as men are about how little is being accomplished
in Washington.
Likewise, Hispanics are climbing on board because they’ve heard—from Hispanic employees
who’ve actually worked for me and know me as a boss and leader—that Donald Trump builds
businesses.
Donald Trump builds buildings.
Donald Trump develops magnificent golf courses.
Donald Trump makes investments that create jobs.
And Donald Trump creates jobs for legal immigrants and all Americans.
Even the most jaded journalists are realizing that Donald Trump is for real and that the people are
responding to someone who is completely different from every other politician.
No one is paying me to say these things. I am paying my own way, and I’m not beholden to any
special interests and lobbyists.
I’m not playing by the usual status-quo rules.
I’m not a politician taking polls to see what I should “believe” or be saying.
I am telling it like it is and going to the heart of what I think will make America great again.
I’m not a diplomat who wants everybody else to be happy. I’m a practical businessman who has
learned that when you believe in something, you never stop, you never quit, and if you get knocked
down, you climb right back up and keep fighting until you win. That’s been my strategy all my life, and
I’ve been very successful following it.
Winning matters. Being the best matters.
I’m going to keep fighting for our country until our country is great again.
Too many people think the American dream is dead, but we can bring it back bigger, better, and
stronger than ever before. But we must start now.
We need to ensure America starts winning once again.
2
OUR “UNBIASED” POLITICAL MEDIA
I’ve been the man the media loves to hate.
It hasn’t taken me long to learn how truly dishonest the political media can be. At the first
Republican debate, Fox journalist Megyn Kelly was clearly out to get me. And of course, at the second
debate, virtually everyone was attacking me because most of their poll numbers were sinking while
mine were surging.
I’m perhaps a controversial person. I say what’s on my mind. I don’t wait to hear what a pollster has
to say because I don’t use pollsters. The media loves my candor. They know I’m not going to dodge or
ignore their questions. I have no problem telling it like it is. These presidential debates would normally
have attracted a couple million viewers, but the first night we had 24 million tune in, and the second
debate drew a similar number. These were the largest audiences in Fox News’ and CNN’s history—
bigger than the NBA Finals, the World Series, and most NFL telecasts.
Why do you think people tuned in? To hear the nasty questions? To watch a bunch of politicians
trying to pretend they are outsiders (like I truly am) so they can be more successful? The fact is I give
people what they need and deserve to hear—exactly what they don’t get from politicians—and that is
The Truth. Our country is a mess right now and we don’t have time to pretend otherwise. We don’t
have time to waste on being politically correct.
You listen to the politicians and it’s as if they are speaking from a script titled “How Boring Can I
Possibly Be?” Watching some of these people being interviewed is about as exciting as watching paint
dry. They’re so afraid of tripping on their own words, terrified that they’re going to say something
unscripted and go off message—that’s the phrase they use, “go off message”—that they are verbally
paralyzed. They’ll do anything they can to avoid answering a question—and the media plays the game
with them.
The object of this game is to appear thoughtful while still looking like a regular guy (or gal) who
would be fun to have a beer with. The pollsters tell them how to be everything to everybody without
alienating anyone. These same politicians who boldly promise they are going to stand up to our
enemies won’t even give direct answers to reporters. I don’t play that game, because I’m a very
successful businessman and my mind-set is that this country needs to bring itself back from the depths
of all our problems and the $19 trillion we owe.
At the first debate, I responded to Megyn Kelly’s adversarial question by telling her, “I think the big
problem this country has is being politically correct. I’ve been challenged by so many people, and I
don’t frankly have time for total political correctness. And to be honest with you, this country doesn’t
have time either. This country is in big trouble. We don’t win anymore. We lose to China. We lose to
Mexico both in trade and at the border. We lose to Russia and Iran and Saudi Arabia.”
I’m not bragging when I say that I’m a winner. I have experience in winning. That’s what we call
leadership. That means that people will follow me and be inspired by what I do. How do I know? I’ve
been a leader my whole life. Thousands of my employees know that I’ll deliver and help them deliver.
FOR A LONG TIME
Sometimes I can be self-effacing, injecting a little humor, having some fun, and kidding around. We
have a good time. What I say is what I say, and everyone that knows me really appreciates it.
With the problems we’re facing, these debates have become “Trump versus The Others.” The
attacks are coming at me from all directions, because they all know I am the only one talking about
really changing this country and making America great again. The moderators read some quote of
mine (or misinterpret a quote of mine) and then ask someone else to comment. Do I have the right
temperament? Would I run the country like a business? When did I “actually become a Republican?”
These exchanges make great TV. Sadly, they’re almost like watching a sporting event.
And guess what? Few, if any, of these questions get to the heart of what is wrong with our country
and what really matters to Americans. It’s all very personal, because politicians (and their journalist
cronies) know that the public doesn’t want to hear the details of our nuclear sellout to Iran or what
we’re going to do about all the federal red ink bleeding the American taxpayer dry these days. The
personal exchanges between me and the others become the big story of the debate and the focus of
news coverage for weeks. You’d like to think that Fox News and CNN could do better. For the record,
I think CNN and Fox treated me badly. Still, you’d think a major news network would take their
responsibilities more seriously and use these debates to help the public determine who has the best
plan to make our country great again.
But they missed that opportunity.
The whole debate format has worked out fine for me. The American people are smart and figured
out pretty quickly what the real motives are for turning up the personal attacks against me. And I get
more minutes, more front-page coverage, more requests for interviews than anyone else—and most
important for America—the opportunity to speak directly to the people.
There are many reporters whom I have a lot of respect for, especially in the financial media. When
the financial journalists interview you they know what they’re doing, and they ask direct questions that
can provide important information to their viewers. There’s money at stake and they don’t play the
same silly “gotcha” games as the political media do. They can’t afford to.
I don’t mind being attacked. I use the media the way the media uses me—to attract attention. Once
I have that attention, it’s up to me to use it to my advantage. I learned a long time ago that if you’re not
afraid to be outspoken, the media will write about you or beg you to come on their shows. If you do
things a little differently, if you say outrageous things and fight back, they love you. So sometimes I
make outrageous comments and give them what they want—viewers and readers—in order to make a
point. I’m a businessman with a brand to sell. When was the last time you saw a sign hanging outside a
pizzeria claiming “The fourth best pizza in the world”?! But now I am using those talents, honed
through years of tremendous success, to inspire people to think that our country can get better and be
great again and that we can turn things around.
The cost of a full-page ad in the New York Times can be more than $100,000. But when they write a
story about one of my deals, it doesn’t cost me a cent, and I get more important publicity. I have a
mutually profitable two-way relationship with the media—we give each other what we need. And now
I am using that relationship to talk about the future of America.
Many people believe I do well with the press. Maybe I do, sometimes, but anyone who believes I
can use the media is absolutely wrong. Nobody can use the press. It’s too big, too widespread. For me,
it has been absolutely necessary to try to build relationships with reporters. There are many journalists
I respect. Some of the finest people I know are journalists. They are honest, decent, and hardworking;
they bring honor to their profession. If I do something wrong or make a mistake, they report it
accurately. I’ve got no problem with that. The mistake bothers me, not the reporting.
But there also are a lot of times I believe that the media is abusive, both to people like me and to the
process. The key word is “accurately.” Like in every other profession, there are people who are not
good. There is no question that considering all the press I’ve had, both good and bad, I’ve definitely met
people at both the very top as well as the lowest end of the food chain. I mean, the very bottom: They
are horrible human beings, they are dishonest. I’ve seen these so-called journalists flat-out lie. I say
that because incompetence doesn’t begin to explain the inaccurate stories they have written. There is
no other explanation.
The image I created through the media enabled me to build one of the greatest luxury brands in the
world. People buy my apartments, buy my label, and play on my golf courses, because they know if I
put my name on it, it has to be top quality. Why do you think NBC gave me my own show, The
Apprentice? They did it because I set myself apart to be a target, the big, tough employer. The result
was one of the most successful shows in television history. I’m the only boss in the world who boosts a
person’s future status by firing them.
Sometimes the truth hurts, but sometimes that is the only way to get better. And a lot of the viewers
told me that by watching my show they learned how to be more effective in their jobs so they wouldn’t
get fired.
I don’t mind criticism. People call me thin-skinned, but I have thick skin. I have a wonderful and
beautiful wife. I’ve got billions of dollars. My children are highly intelligent and accomplished
executives who work with me. I’ve got a pile of potentially huge projects sitting on my desk. I can’t
walk into a room or down a street without people racing toward me and telling me that they are excited
for our country to win again. So criticism doesn’t bother me, and it can’t hurt me. I’ve had power and
I’ve had profits, but now it’s time to help the people have a voice and to make sure the people are
heard. I am doing this to make our country great again.
Not too long ago, a lot of the pundits kept asking me if I was serious. I thought they were asking the
wrong question. What they should have been asking was if I was serious about the future of our
country. I have never been more serious about anything in my life.
In the quest for ratings, every show is trying to make news. The problem is that they aren’t doing
their job. They aren’t interested in informing the public. Instead, they play their own game, the
“gotcha” game. As I’ve said, some of the political media are very dishonest. They don’t care about
printing the truth, they don’t want to repeat my entire remarks, and they don’t want to be bothered
explaining what I meant. They know what I said, they know what I meant, and they edit it or interpret
it to have a different meaning.
I was reminded of this behavior when I announced that I was running for president on June 16 in
New York. I spoke at great length about a lot of different topics. I listed a lot of the problems we were
facing: illegal immigration, underemployment, a shrinking gross domestic product, an aging nuclear
arsenal, and Islamic terrorism. I went through them all. What did the media focus on? They
concentrated on the fact that I said Mexico was sending its worst people over our southern border.
“They’re sending people that have lots of problems,” I said. “And they’re bringing those problems to
us.”
The next thing you heard was that Trump said all immigrants were criminals. That wasn’t what I
said at all, but it made a better story for the media. It gave them some headlines. What I said was that
among all the illegal immigrants coming from Mexico were some pretty bad people, some of them are
rapists, some of them are drug dealers, some of them are coming here to live off the system, and we’d
better take immediate and tough measures to close our borders to “illegals.”
People who know me know I would never insult Hispanics or any group of people. I’ve done
business with many Hispanics. I’ve lived in New York all my life. I know how wonderful the Latino
culture can be. I know the contributions they make to our country. I’ve employed many hardworking
Hispanic people through the years. I have great respect for Hispanic people, but that’s not what the
media reported.
Here’s what the media reported: TRUMP CALLS ALL IMMIGRANTS CRIMINALS and TRUMP CALLS ALL
MEXICANS RAPISTS!
Completely ridiculous.
One of the problems the political media has with me is that I’m not afraid of them. Others run
around practically begging for attention. I don’t. People respond to my ideas. These media types sell
more magazines when my face is on the cover, or when I bring a bigger audience to their television
show than they normally attract, and by far. And what’s funny is that it turns out the best way for them
to get that attention is to criticize me.
But the American people are beginning to understand that. They have finally figured out that a lot
of the political media aren’t trying to give the people a fair representation of the important issues.
Instead, they are trying to manipulate the people—and the election—in favor of the candidates they
want to see elected. These media companies are owned by billionaires. These are smart people who
know which candidates are going to be best for them, and they find a way to support the person they
want.
It would be impossible for me to even estimate how many times I’ve been interviewed by how many
reporters. I couldn’t even tell you how many magazine covers I’ve been on.
Recently, I was interviewed by conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. “Best interview in America,”
he called me. Here’s what happened:
During the show, he started asking me a series of questions about an Iranian general and various
terrorist leaders. “I’m looking for the next commander in chief to know who Hassan Nasrallah is, and
Zawahiri, and al-Julani, and al-Baghdadi. Do you know the players without a scorecard yet?”
What a ridiculous question. I don’t think knowing the names of each terrorist leader more than a
year before the election is a test of whether someone is qualified. We’re not playing Trivial Pursuit.
Every question Hugh asked me was like that—although I noticed he didn’t ask too many questions
about our economic policy or about reforming the tax system—things I’ve spent my life mastering.
Instead, he asked these “gotcha” questions that proved nothing except that he was able to read some
names and pronounce them correctly. Does anybody believe George W. Bush and Barack Obama
could name the leaders of all terrorist organizations? (Not that they are the standard!)
People see through this nonsense. We have real problems and I am talking about how to fix them,
and the media continues to play these same old games. In the end though, Hugh Hewittt was just fine,
and has since said some great things about me.
Every question was “gotcha, gotcha, gotcha.” I gave Hewitt the best possible answer: Those people
probably won’t even be there in a year. I should have added that if America doesn’t do the right things,
we won’t be help much longer either.
Let me tell you something: When I need to know something, I know it. When I decided to build the
most magnificent golf resort in the world in Aberdeen, Scotland, I didn’t know the names of the
Scottish officials who would be involved in this project—but by the time we went to work, I knew
every person it was necessary to know. I’d probably met most of them, too. At the beginning of any
kind of project I know what I need to know—and then I get the information to make sure the project
gets done to my satisfaction. And I have strong executives who know how to—as their title suggests—
execute.
So here’s the way I work: I find the people who are the best in the world at what needs to be done,
then I hire them to do it, and then I let them do it . . . but I always watch over them.
We have great military leaders in this country. We produce the finest officers and soldiers anywhere
in the world. And we have some really smart men and women working in our intelligence community.
These people spend all day, every day, working on serious problems. These professionals are the real
experts. They know all the players.
One reason that I have been successful in business is that I hire the best people. I pay them well,
and I keep them working for me. There are times when I meet someone working on the other side of
the deal. Maybe they don’t beat me, but they give me a tough time. I respect that. In fact, I respect that
so much that sometimes I hire them away from the company they were negotiating for.
Truthfully though, I can’t really blame Hugh Hewitt for doing what he did. Just like Megyn Kelly,
he figured out that the best way to get attention is to attack Donald Trump. This guy got more
headlines from our little exchange than he probably ever got in his whole career. It wasn’t the names of
terrorist leaders that he cared about—it was his own name. And it worked for him.
It’s just the same old game, where the people come last. That needs to change, too.
Begging for attention really sums up the problem we face in this country with our media. There is
such competition that they’re more interested in entertaining their audience than educating them.
They like me because I help them attract more viewers. They hate me because they know I don’t need
them. I learned a long time ago how to talk directly to the people who matter—to regular Americans
who are fed up with the career politicians.
That’s probably you—the real Americans—which is why I’ve written this book.
3
IMMIGRATION: GOOD WALLS MAKE GOOD NEIGHBORS
candidacy I spoke for almost an hour, covering just about every challenge that we’re
facing. But the subject that got the most attention was my focus on our immigration policy. Or, in fact,
our lack of any coherent immigration policy. I was pretty tough on illegal immigrants, and a lot of
people didn’t like that. I said that many countries are dumping their worst people on our border and
that it has to stop. A country that doesn’t control its borders can’t survive—especially with what’s going
on right now.
What I said only makes common sense. I speak to border patrol guards, and they tell us who we’re
letting across our border. The countries south of us are not sending us their best people. The bad
people are coming from places other than just Mexico. They’re coming from all over Central and South
America, and they’re coming probably—probably—from the Middle East. Let me add now: Allowing
tens of thousands of Syrian refugees in the door will certainly bring a lot of problems. But we won’t
know how bad, because we have no protection and we have no competence. We don’t know what’s
happening. It’s got to stop, and it’s got to stop quickly.
Later in my announcement I added, “I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than
me, believe me, and I’ll build it very inexpensively. I will build a great wall on our southern border. And
I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.” I spoke for quite a while that day. I covered just
about all the problems our country is facing. But what did the media report about that speech? “Trump
is anti-immigration.” “Trump calls immigrants rapists.” “Trump is starting a war with Mexico.” You
want to know why we aren’t solving our problems? Why nothing changes? It’s because we’re not facing
the problems and taking action.
The flow of illegal immigrants into this country is one of the most serious problems we face. It’s
killing us. But until I made that point during my speech, nobody was talking about it honestly. And
instead of saying, “Trump’s right and we’d better do something to stop illegal immigration right now or
we’re going to lose our country,” they said, “Oh, what a terrible thing Trump said about the nice people
who live south of our borders. I hope they don’t get upset at us because of that. Maybe he’ll apologize.”
I understand why that happened. It’s a lot easier to criticize me for being blunt than it is to actually
admit this immigration situation is a dangerous problem and then to find a way to deal with it.
Let me state this clearly: I am not against immigration.
My mother emigrated to this country from Scotland in 1918 and married my father, whose parents
had come here from Germany in 1885. My parents were two of the best people who ever lived, and it
was millions of people like them who made this country so wonderful and so successful.
I love immigration.
Immigrants come to this country, they want to work hard, be successful, raise their kids, and share
in the American dream. It’s a beautiful story. I can close my eyes and just imagine what my relatives
must have been thinking when they sailed past the Statue of Liberty into New York and their new
lives. And if they could only see the results of their risk and sacrifice! How can anyone not appreciate
WHEN I ANNOUNCED MY
the courage it took for these people to leave their families and come here?
What I don’t love is the concept of illegal immigration.
It’s not fair to everyone else, including people who have been waiting on line for years to come into
our country legally. And the flood of illegal immigrants coming across our borders has become a
dangerous problem. We don’t protect our borders. We don’t know who’s here, but I bet wherever they
came from knows that they are gone. Yet those governments do nothing to help us. The estimate is
that there are 11 million illegal immigrants in America, but the fact is that nobody knows how many
there really are. We have no way of tracking them.
What we do know is that some of those immigrants are a source of real crime. In 2011, the
Government Accountability Office reported that there were three million arrests that could be
attributed to the incarcerated alien population, including tens of thousands of violent criminals. There
were 351,000 criminal illegal aliens in our prisons—that number does not include the crime of
crossing our borders. It costs us more than a billion dollars a year just to keep these people in prison.
I understand that the vast majority of these people are honest, decent, hardworking people who
came here to improve their own lives and their children’s lives. America holds so much promise, and
what honest person wouldn’t want to come here to try to make a better life for himself and his
children? But illegal immigration is a problem that must be confronted by the United States
government who, in turn, must confront other countries. I feel as sorry for these individuals as anyone
else does. Conditions in some of their countries are deplorable.
Nonetheless, illegal immigration has to stop. A country that can’t protect its borders isn’t a country.
We are the only country in the world whose immigration system places the needs of other nations
ahead of our own.
There is a word to describe people who do that: fools.
I have great respect for the people of Mexico. The people have tremendous spirit. I’ve been involved
in deals with Mexican businessmen. But those businessmen aren’t the people the Mexican government
is sending us. Too many people have forgotten the Mariel boatlift. In 1980, Fidel Castro told the
Cuban people that anyone who wanted to leave Cuba was free to do so. President Carter opened our
borders to anyone who came here. Except Castro was too smart for him. He emptied Cuba’s prisons
and insane asylums and sent his biggest problems here. He got rid of the worst people in that country,
and we were left to deal with them. More than 125,000 Cubans came here, and despite there being
many, many great ones, some were criminals or had mental problems. More than thirty years later
we’re still dealing with that.
Does anybody really believe that the Mexican government—for that matter, all the governments in
South and Central America—didn’t get that message? The Mexican government has published
pamphlets explaining how to illegally emigrate to the United States. Which makes my point—this is
not about a few individuals seeking a better life; this is about foreign governments behaving badly and
our own career politicians and “leaders” not doing their jobs.
And who can blame these foreign governments? It’s a great way for those governments to get rid of
their worst people without paying any price for their bad behavior. Instead of putting these bad people
in their prisons, they send them to us. And the bad guys are bringing the drug business and other
criminal activity with them. Some of them are rapists, as a matter of fact, and as we have now seen in
San Francisco, some of them are killers. The man who shot and killed a beautiful young woman had
been pushed out of Mexico five times. He should have been in jail there, but instead they sent him
here.
The price we’re paying for illegal immigration is enormous.
It has to stop.
The first thing we need to do is secure our southern border—and we need to do it now. We have to
stop that flood, and the best way to do that is to build a wall. People say you can’t do it—how do you
build a wall across the whole border?
Believe me, it can be done.
Nobody can build a wall like me. I will build a great wall on our southern border. It doesn’t have to
cover the entire border. Some areas are already secured with physical barriers. In other areas the
terrain is too difficult for people to cross. It’s probably about 1,000 miles we will need to secure with
the new wall.
There are people who say it can’t be done, that it’s not possible to build a wall 1,000 miles long.
Except beginning more than 2,000 years ago the Chinese built a wall that eventually stretched almost
13,000 miles that could never be breached. It was a combination of massive walls, impassible trenches
and ditches, and rugged natural terrain, as well as an estimated 25,000 watchtowers. Believe me, our
wall-building technology has improved a lot in 2,000 years. What we don’t have that the Chinese had is
the commitment to do it. They understood the danger of leaving their border unprotected and they did
something about it. We talk about it and do nothing.
Walls work. The Israelis spent $2 million per kilometer to build a wall—which has been hugely
successful in stopping terrorists from getting into the country. Ironically, some of the same people who
claim we shouldn’t build this wall cite the success of Israel’s wall. While obviously we don’t face the
same level of terrorist threat as our closest Middle East ally, there is no question about the value of a
wall in the fight against terrorism.
Many people don’t know that even Mexico has built its own wall on its southern border—to keep
out illegal immigrants.
It wouldn’t even be that difficult. We already have a model: Yuma, Arizona, for example, built three
walls separated by a 75-yard no-man’s-land that allows border agents to patrol within that area with
their vehicles. They installed cameras, radio communications, radar, and a great lighting system. After
it was built, the 120-mile-long stretch known as the Yuma sector saw an incredible 72 percent decrease
in the number of people apprehended trying to get into this country illegally—and mine will be much
better.
Construction of the wall needs to start as soon as possible. And Mexico has to pay for it.
Let me repeat that, one way or another: Mexico will pay for it.
How? We could increase the various border fees we charge. We could increase the fees on
temporary visas. We could even impound remittance payments derived from illegal wages. Foreign
governments could tell their embassies to start helping, otherwise they risk troubled relations with
America.
If necessary we could pay for the wall through a tariff or cut foreign aid to Mexico or simply make it
clear to the Mexican government that it is to the benefit of their very profitable—for them—
relationship with the United States to pay for it.
But one way or another, they are going to pay for it.
I don’t mind putting a big, beautiful door in that wall so people can come in and out . . . LEGALLY.
The wall will be a good start, but by itself it won’t be enough. Without the wall, however, everything
else is more of the same old big talk we hear from the politicians.
We’ve been trying to get this problem under control for more than 75 years. We’ve tried a lot of
different solutions, and the result is that now illegal immigration is worse than ever. One of the
solutions that did show promise was President Eisenhower’s attempt to deal with illegal immigration
on our southern border, which had become known as the truly terribly named “Operation Wetback.”
But even with that awful name the program was successful. It was a joint effort between the INS and
the Mexican government. Special immigration teams were created to quickly process and deport illegal
immigrants. One of the reasons it worked is that people who were caught were given to Mexican
government agents, who moved them into central Mexico, where they could find jobs. In the first year,
more than one million people were sent back.
What we need is the comprehensive program I have outlined that will enable us to get our
immigration system under control. It starts with enforcing the existing laws. A country either has laws
or it doesn’t. But having laws that we don’t enforce makes no sense to me. And in addition to keeping
bad people from coming in, we’ve got to get the criminals out. When you break our laws you get
thrown out. It’s simple. Why should we absorb the expense of keeping criminals in prisons? Let their
countries of origin deal with the problems they sent us. If they refuse to take them back, we can stop
issuing visas to those countries, preventing their citizens from legally visiting the United States.
I also would triple the number of immigration officers we currently employ until the wall is built.
We are asking these people to do a job that would be difficult even if they had all the support they
need, and they don’t. Think of it this way: Currently there are about 5,000 officers attempting to
enforce the existing immigration laws against the more than 11 million illegal aliens. Compare that to
the 10,000 members of the Los Angeles Police Department or the 35,000 officers in the New York
Police Department. Since 9/11 we have tripled the size of the border patrol but haven’t substantially
increased the number of ICE officers—the officers who enforce immigration laws.
The career politicians love to talk about having a nationwide “E-verify system” so potential
employers will be able to determine who is here legally and eligible for work and who isn’t. Certainly,
this will help protect the jobs for unemployed Americans. But let’s not kid ourselves. Our “leaders”
must lead on this, and engage with foreign governments to stop illegal immigration, and not simply
impose something on our businesses and think that some Internet verification system alone will solve
the problem.
We have to cut off federal grants to sanctuary cities—those places that refuse to cooperate with
federal law enforcement and actually abet criminal behavior—we have to end them. I repeat, we either
are a nation of laws or we’re not.
We also need to do what is necessary to enforce our visa regulations. People get a visa and come
here legally, and when that visa expires, many stay here illegally. If they get caught, nothing happens to
them. That’s got to change. We need to have real penalties for people who overstay their visas. I am
sick and tired of hearing politicians who are all talk and no action. President Obama and his people are
great at sending letters and press releases, but they never seem to have any consequences for foreign
governments that don’t listen to them.
Most important is ending or curtailing so-called birthright citizenship, or anchor babies. American
citizenship is an extraordinary gift. Its value over a lifetime can’t be measured. So the fact that the
Fourteenth Amendment has been interpreted to mean that any child born in the United States
automatically is an American citizen—and that baby can be used as an anchor to keep its family here
—is the single biggest magnet attracting illegal immigrants.
The Fourteenth Amendment was never intended to be used that way. The original purpose of the
Fourteenth Amendment, which was ratified in 1868, following the Civil War, was to guarantee all
rights granted to citizens in the Constitution to freed slaves. No serious historian could possibly
interpret any of the supporting language in the Congressional Record that the birthright citizenship
was intended for anyone other than the freed slaves.
It wasn’t until 1898 that the Supreme Court ruled that, with certain specific exceptions, the
provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to the children of those lawfully here
who gave birth on American soil. By a huge margin, Americans want to change that policy. Even
Democrat Harry Reid admitted that “no sane country” would grant citizenship to the children of illegal
immigrants. It’s estimated that about 300,000 of these children are born here annually. That’s 300,000
children who are entitled to all the rights and privileges granted to American citizens because their
mothers entered this country illegally by walking over the border for a day in the south or by flying in
from another country under fraudulent documentation. There are businesses that specialize in making
this happen! They call it “birth tourism”—pregnant foreign women travel to this country just so that
they can give birth here to babies who then automatically become American citizens.
Citizenship is not a gift we can afford to keep giving away, and I will find a legal way of stopping this
policy. A lot of really smart people and lawyers believe the Fourteenth Amendment was never intended
to create a whole new path to citizenship. We’re going to test it every possible way. We will win in
court and we will win in Congress.
I don’t want to stop legal immigration to this country. In fact, I would like to reform and increase
immigration in some important ways. Our current immigration laws are upside down—they make it
tough on the people we need to have here, and easy for the people we don’t want here.
This country is a magnet for many of the smartest, hardest-working people born in other countries,
yet we make it difficult for these bright people who follow the laws to settle here.
It’s amazing that people who come here to earn a master’s degree and who demonstrate wonderful
skills are forced to wait on a very long line when they want to stay and contribute to this country. In
fact, for a lot of them, their number may never be called. Bright young kids come here from all over the
world to study in our colleges. They get the best education in the world. They graduate with honors
and we hand them a diploma and a plane ticket. Their mistake is that they are honest people—they
follow the law. They want to stay here, but we send them back to their countries, and ultimately they
use the knowledge they gained here to compete against us.
If you’re a criminal, though, or an unskilled worker, or someone escaping criminal charges in
another country, you are able to sneak into our country and in many cases get some benefits and never
leave. These “enforcement” policies and this backward approach to immigration have to change. Our
immigration policy needs to work to make America great again.
My immigration policy is actually pretty simple. We need to make changes to our laws to make it
easier for those people who can contribute to this country to come here legally while making it
impossible for criminal elements and other people to get here illegally. I want good people to come
here from all over the world, but I want them to do so legally. We can expedite the process, we can
reward achievement and excellence, but we have to respect the legal process. And those people who
take advantage of the system and come here illegally should never enjoy the benefits of being a
resident—or citizen—of this nation. So I am against any path to citizenship for undocumented
workers or anyone else who is in this country illegally.
They should—and need to—go home and get in line.
And you know who agrees with me? The Mexicans, the Chinese, and all the people from other
countries who want to be here legally and can’t get a visa or fit into a quota, yet see millions of people
living here illegally. They don’t understand how we can undermine our own interests.
If you have laws that you don’t enforce, then you don’t have laws. This leads to lawlessness.
We can be generous and do all of this humanely. But the security and prosperity of American
citizens have to come first.
Our country, our people, and our laws have to be our top priority.
4
FOREIGN POLICY: FIGHTING FOR PEACE
got us into many foreign policy messes say I have no experience in foreign policy.
They think that successful diplomacy requires years of experience and an understanding of all the
nuances that have to be carefully considered before reaching a conclusion. Only then do these
pinstriped bureaucrats consider taking action.
Look at the state of the world right now. It’s a terrible mess, and that’s putting it kindly.
There has never been a more dangerous time. The so-called insiders within the Washington ruling
class are the people who got us into this trouble. So why should we continue to pay attention to them?
Some of these so-called “experts” are trying to scare people by saying that my approach would make
the world more dangerous.
More dangerous? More dangerous than what? More dangerous than where we are now?
Here’s what I know—what we are doing now isn’t working. And years ago, when I was just starting
out in business, I figured out a pretty simple approach that has always worked well for me:
When you’re digging yourself deeper and deeper into a hole, stop digging.
My approach to foreign policy is built on a strong foundation: Operate from strength. That means
we have to maintain the strongest military in the world, by far. We have to demonstrate a willingness
to use our economic strength to reward those countries that work with us and punish those countries
that don’t. That means going after the banks and financial institutions that launder money for our
enemies, then move it around to facilitate terrorism. And we have to create alliances with our allies
that reveal mutual benefits.
If we’re going to continue to be the policemen of the world, we ought to be paid for it.
Teddy Roosevelt always believed we should “speak softly and carry a big stick.” I’ve never been
afraid to speak up to protect my interests and, truthfully, I don’t understand why we don’t speak more
loudly about the ways we are losing around the world. If we don’t speak up, how is anything ever going
to get better? How are we ever going to win?
America is the most powerful country in the world and we shouldn’t be afraid to say it. “Iron Mike”
Tyson, the famous fighter, once explained his philosophy, saying, “Everybody has a plan until they get
punched in the mouth.”
The first thing we need to do is build up our ability to throw that punch. We need to spend
whatever it takes to completely fund our military properly. Fifteen years ago I wrote, “We can’t pursue
forward military and foreign-policy objectives on a backward military budget.”
The best way not to have to use your military power is to make sure that power is visible.
When people know that we will use force if necessary and that we really mean it, we’ll be treated
differently.
With respect.
Right now, no one believes us because we’ve been so weak with our approach to military policy in
the Middle East and elsewhere.
THE CAREER DIPLOMATS WHO
Building up our military is cheap when you consider the alternative. We’re buying peace and we’re
locking in our national security. Right now we are in bad shape militarily. We’re decreasing the size of
our forces and we’re not giving them the best equipment. Recruiting the best people has fallen off, and
we can’t get the people we have trained to the level they need to be. There are a lot of questions about
the state of our nuclear weapons. When I read reports of what is going on, I’m shocked.
It’s no wonder nobody respects us. It’s no surprise that we never win.
Spending money on our military is also smart business. Who do people think build our airplanes
and ships, and all the equipment that our troops should have? American workers, that’s who. So
building up our military also makes economic sense because it allows us to put real money into the
system and put thousands of people back to work.
There is another way to pay to modernize our military forces. If other countries are depending on us
to protect them, shouldn’t they be willing to make sure we have the capability to do it? Shouldn’t they
be willing to pay for the servicemen and servicewomen and the equipment we’re providing?
Depending on the price of oil, Saudi Arabia earns somewhere between half a billion and a billion
dollars every day. They wouldn’t exist, let alone have that wealth, without our protection. We get
nothing from them. Nothing.
We defend Germany. We defend Japan. We defend South Korea. These are powerful and wealthy
countries. We get nothing from them.
It’s time to change all that. It’s time to win again.
We’ve got 28,500 wonderful American soldiers on South Korea’s border with North Korea. They’re
in harm’s way every single day. They’re the only thing that is protecting South Korea. And what do we
get from South Korea for it? They sell us products—at a nice profit. They compete with us.
We spent two trillion dollars doing whatever we did in Iraq. I still don’t know why we did it, but we
did. Iraq is sitting on an ocean of oil. Is it out of line to suggest that they should contribute to their own
future? And after the blood and the money we spent trying to bring some semblance of stability to the
Iraqi people, maybe they should be willing to make sure we can rebuild the army that fought for them.
When Kuwait was attacked by Saddam Hussein, all the wealthy Kuwaitis ran to Paris. They didn’t
just rent suites—they took up whole buildings, entire hotels. They lived like kings while their country
was occupied.
Who did they turn to for help? Who else? Uncle Sucker. That’s us.
We spent billions of dollars sending our army to win back Kuwait. Our people were killed and
wounded, but the Iraqis went back to their country.
About two months after the war, several Kuwaitis came up to my office to discuss a deal I wanted to
do with them. Believe me, they would not have lost money on this deal. They told me, “No, no, no, we
do not like the United States for investment purposes. We have great respect for you, but we want to
invest outside of the United States.”
We had just handed them back their country!
They were watching TV in the best hotel rooms in Paris while our kids were fighting for them. And
they didn’t want to invest in this country?
How stupid are we?!
Why didn’t the United States make a deal with them that outlined how they would pay for us to get
their country back for them? They would have paid anything if just asked.
The point is, we’re spending trillions of dollars to safeguard other countries. We’re paying for the
privilege of fighting their battles. It makes no sense to me.
It really is time the rest of the world paid their fair share, and if I have anything to say about it, they